POLSC201: Introduction to Western Political Thought

Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

• describe the social order and governance of society as presented in Plato's Republic;
• explain the narrative of Socrates' trial and subsequent death as told in Plato's Apology and Crito;
• compare and contrast the arguments of Socrates in the Apology and Crito with his arguments in the Republic;
• discuss the concepts of justice, equality, citizenship, and virtue as presented in the Republic with those presented in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Politics; and
• explain how Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics forms the basis for conceptions of government in Politics, and why Aristotle considers aristocracy based in virtue as the ideal form of government over oligarchy or democracy.